Device for everting a sleeve of flexible material

ABSTRACT

A device for everting a sleeve of fabric material without injury to the material. The device is comprised of a tubular member and a pair of resilient catches which project from one end of the member to engage a sleeve of material to be everted. The catches engage and pull the end of the fabric sleeve within the end of the tubular member. The sleeve can be everted by sliding the remainder of the sleeve over the end of the tube where the end of the sleeve is caught by the catches.

[ 1 Feb. 22, 1972 United States Patent LeBlane 2,626,090 l/l953 H0rsley....................................223/42 2,156,339 5/1939 Horn........................................223/40 [54] DEVICE FOR EVERTING A SLEEVE OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL Primary Examiner.lordan Franklin Assistant ExaminerGeo. V. Larkin Attorney-Fishman and Van Kirk [22] Filed:

ABSTRACT a sleeve of fabric material without injury [21] Appl. No.:

A device for evening 123/42 to the material. The device is comprised of a tubular member 4 43/00 and a pair of resilient catches which project from one end of Field of Search..............................................223/39-43 the member to engage a sleeve of material to be everted- The catches engage and pull the end of the fabric sleeve within the end of the tubular member. The sleeve can be everted by slidthe remainder of the sleeve over the end of the tube where [51] lnt.Cl............... I

[56] References Cited ing UNITED STATES PATENTS the catches.

the end of the sleeve is caught by Gold 11 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PAIENTEUFEB 22 m2 INVENTOR PLACIDE N. LEBLANC ATTORNEYS DEVICE FOR EVERTING A SLEEVE OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l..Field of the Invention This invention relates to the field of material handling tools and is more particularly concerned with tools for everting sleeves of fabric material.

2. Description of the Prior Art It is common practice in the clothing industry or other industries which manufacture covering materials to assemble various pieces of the material in final form with the inside turned outwardly. In this fashion, all seams between adjacent pieces are hidden from view when the finished item is everted to place the correct side or finished surface on the outside.

While the everting or turning'inside out of most items can be accomplished with relativelylittle difficulty, a problem does exist in everting long sleeves. of flexible material particularly where the diameter of the sleeve is small. In general, the smaller the diameterthe more difficult task of everting the item. This problem is particularly noted in the manufacture of piping such as that frequently found along the seams of upholstery and in other areas including the manufacture of fabric covered belts or decorative, stuffed lacing.

The problem of everting sleeves of fabric material is not new and already a number of devices have been conceived for solving these problems. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,156,339 and 2,626,090 disclose several examples of devices which facilitate the reversal of fabric sleeves. -In U.S. Pat. No. 2,156,339, the fabric to be everted is pierced by a hook projecting from one end of a tubular member and the fabric once camming action against the "inner surface of the tubular member which causes the catches to cross over one another as the arms are pulled within the tube. The fabric engaged by the catches and pulled within the tubular member becomes caught between the overlapping catches and bound between the catches and the tubular member to fasten the fabric without actually puncturing the fabric.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The novel sleeve everting device of the present invention together with its numerous objects and advantages will be better understood and described by reference to the following drawings in which the same elements bear the same reference numerals throughout the several figures.

FIG. 1 shows the novel sleeve everting device in a side view with a sleeveof fabric slipped over the device in the course of sewing the sleeve.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the fabric engaging end of the device with the end of the fabric sleeve engaged by-the catches at their extended position.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of the everting device at the fabric engaging end with the catches partially withdrawn and in FIG. 3 and with a sleeve of fabric material pinched between the fabric is slid off the tubular member as in the former patent.

The prior art devices operate with certain limitations which are not always desirable or acceptable. The single hook has been employed to anchor the fabric by piercing the material which generates a hole in the fabric. The hole generated in certain fabrics is permanent and can mar the externalappearance of the material unless the end of the sleeve is cut off and discarded. Where the material is frictionally. clamped between two grips in the prior art device, the material may not be damaged; however, the continuous application of pressure to the tool must be maintained while the sleeve is engaged by the grips. Such application of pressure requires the use of one hand and therefore leaves only the other hand free for working the material into the space between the opengrips; It is, accordingly, desirable to have a sleeve turning device which can operate with the ease of the hooking arrangement and the clamping characteristics ofthe gripping-device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The sleeve everting deviceof the present invention is composed of a tubular member and a pair of catches projecting from one end of the member to readily engage the fabric sleeve securely and pull the sleeve within the tubular member. The catches are hooks having blunt end surfaces to prevent puncturing of the fabrics. The catches are connected to resilient arms which cause the catches to cross over one another as the arms are pulled within the end of the tubular member. In crossing over one another, the catches cause a sleeve of fabric material to be pinched between the overlapping catches in a secure frictional grip. The remainder of the fabric sleeve can then be slid off the end of the tubular member to turn the sleeve inside out.

The arms which support the catches arebent in an angular shape adjacentthe catches and extend completely through the tubular member in one embodiment of the invention so that the catches can be operated from the remote end of the tubular member. The angular configuration of the arms generates a the overlapping catches.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the everting device at the fabric engaging end with the catches retracted and the fabric sleeve partially cut away.

' FIG. 6 is a side view of the everting device at the fabric engaging end with the sleeve of fabric slipped off of the device and partially reversed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The novel sleeve everting device and a sleeve of fabric material are shown in FIG. I. The everting device, generally designated 10, comprises basically an elongated tube 12 and a Y-shaped wire 14 which extends through the tube 12 and projects from each end.

The material M is a strip of any flexible material which can either be sewn or bonded together to form a sleeve of the material. The material M shown is a cloth material which is held in a sleevelike configuration by means of a threaded stitch S extending longitudinally along one side of the tube 12. I

The sleeve may also be a vinyl plastic which has been heated along the seam to bond the edges of the strip together. If desired, the strip of material M can be formed inside out on the tube 12 as indicated by the open stitch at the upper end in FIG. 1. In this fashion, the diameter of the sleeve will be slightly larger than the diameter of tube 12. Of course, the everting device 10 iscontemplated to reverse any sleeve of flexible material corresponding generally to the tube diameter whether the sleeve has been formed on the tube 12 or not.

The tube 12 in the preferred embodiment hasa circular cross section however other sectional shapes may be employed withequal facility so long as the wall thickness of the tube 12 is adequate to prevent collapse of the wall under normal use contemplated for the everting device. The particular material'from which the tube 12 is constructed may be either a metal, a heavy gauge plastic or a fiber-reinforced composite.

The Y-shaped wire 14 is composed of a resilient metallic material such as a steel alloy and has specially formed features at each end. At the lower end of tube 12 as seen in FIG. 1, the Y-shaped wire 14 has a loop 16 which permits the wire 14 to be grasped and reciprocated within the tube 12. It will be noted that the central portion of the wire 14 is a straight rod extending the entire length of the tube 12. The rod may be thought of as an operating rod since it allows the Y-shaped wire 14 to be reciprocated within the tube 12 by means ofthe loop 16 at the lower end of the tube 12 as viewed in FIG. 1.

At the upper end of the tube 12, the Y-shaped wire 14 has two resilient arms 18 and 20 which may be welded or brazed in a forked configuration to the upper end of the operating rod. The arms 18 and 20 extend symmetrically along the axis of tube 12 and terminate in a pair of catches 22 and 24 integrally formed in the shape of hooks at the ends of the resilient arms 18 and 20 respectively.

With this brief description of the novel sleeve everting device given above, the details of its construction and its mode of operation are discussed with reference to FIGS. 2-6.

As seen in FIG. 2 the stitch S in the sleeve material M is complete and the end of the sleeve has been slipped into the openings of the hook-shaped catches 22 and 24. The catches have the hook openings facing outwardly and rearwardly toward tube 12 so that the sleeve can be easily slipped off of the tube with one hand and into the catches at their axially extended position shown.

With the material engaged by catches 22 and 24, the loop 16 in FIG. 1 can be gripped with one hand and pulled while the other hand grasps both the material and the device about the midpoint of the tube 12. By pulling the loop 16, catches 22 and 24 draw the end of the sleeve material M into the tube 12 as shown in FIG. 5. With the end of the sleeve material M securely anchored within the tube 12, the remainder of the sleeve can be slipped over the tube and off of the anchoring end as shown in FIG. 6 to reverse the sleeve or turn the sleeve inside out.

It will be recognized that the success of the everting operation depends on the fact that the anchored end of the sleeve material remains securely fastened within the tube 12. It is, accordingly, an important feature of the present invention that the catches 22 and 24 operate in a manner which securely pinches the material within the tube 12 without damaging the material by puncturing or otherwise tearing the material.

To this end, the arms 18 and 20 have angled camming portions 26 and 28 respectively shown in FIG. 3. Here, the arms are shown partially withdrawn in tube 12 without the fabric for clarity. The camming portions 26 and 28 contact the inner edge 30 and the inner surface 32 of the tube 12 as the arms are pulled into the tube. Since the camming portions 26 and 28 at the axially extended position of arms 18 and 20 are separated by a distance greater than the inside diameter of tube 12, camming action is created as the arms enter the tube which causes the arms to flex and the catches to cross over one another as seen most clearly by a comparison of the catches in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The crossing over of the catches as the end of the sleeve material is drawn within the tube 12 causes the sleeve material to become pinched between the overlapping catches as seen in FIG. 4. It will also be apparent from FIGS. 4 and that the catches can create a further binding of the material between the inner surface 32 of tube 12 and the adjacent portion of the catches 22 and 24 at the fully withdrawn position. The hooks are sized to fit within the end of tube 12 without a large clearance. When the fabric material is also drawn within the tube, the gathering of the material and the close fit of the hooks causes the binding of the material against the inner surface of the tube. Through the combined pinching and binding of the material M, the sleeve can be slipped off of the tube 12 as in FIG. 6 without losing the grip on the end ofthe sleeve.

It will be noted that the catches are essentially hooks which may have blunt end surfaces 34 and 36. The blunt surfaces prevent the hooks from piercing the fabric material during the everting operation. As a result, the material need not be damaged during the everting operation.

With the novel sleeve everting device, it is also possible to insert a cable, cord, or elastic in the sleeve while the sleeve material is being turned inside out. By placing a cord in the end of the tube immediately adjacent the catches 22 and 24 while the material is anchored as shown in FIG. 5, the sleeve of material can be slipped off of the tube and onto the cord during the everting operation. In this fashion, it is possible to insert elastic or stiffening materials without difficulty in piping, flat belts or cylindrical looping for button holes, frogs and trims.

While the novel sleeve everting device has been described in a preferred embodiment which is simple to operate and economical to manufacture, it should be understood that numerous substitutions and modifications can be made to the device without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, while the resilient arms 18 and 20 are formed as a part of the Y-shaped wire 14, it is equally feasible that the arms could be individually mounted in a piston which is reciprocated within the tube 12. Reciprocation of the piston may be accomplished by a single piston rod extending the length of the tube 12 to a handle at the end remote from catches 22 and 24. Also, catches 22 and 25 need not be integrally formed on the resilient arms 18 and 20 but, instead, maybe separately attached in a modified configuration. The diameter of the tube 12 can be varied according to the size of the sleeve to be everted. The reversing device is particularly advantageous because the size of the hooks and the diameter of the tube can be made quite small yet the device operates well with difficult, low-friction fabrics such as satin. Accordingly, the present invention, while disclosed in a preferred embodiment, has been described by way of illustration rather than limitation.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for everting a sleeve of flexible material comprising:

a hollow, elongated tubular member over which the sleeve of flexible material can be slid;

a pair of sleeve engaging catches extending axially at one end ofthe hollow tubular member; and

a pair of axially extending resilient arms mounted within the tubular member, said arms being connected respectively to the axially extending catches for reciprocating the catches between an axially inwardly disposed position and an axially outwardly disposed position with respect to the one end of the tubular member and for crossing the catches over one another at the inwardly disposed position of the catches.

2. The everting device of claim 1 wherein:

the resilient arms of the reciprocating means are symmetrically shaped arms having angled camming portions which contact the interior of the tubular member at the inwardly disposed position of the catches.

3. The everting device of claim 2 wherein:

the reciprocating means includes an operating rod extending through the hollow tubular member, the rod being connected at one end to the resilient arms for reciprocating the arms between the inwardly and outwardly disposed positions.

4. The everting device of claim 1 wherein:

the catches are hooks symmetrically disposed about the axis of the tubular member and integrally connected to the respective axially extending arms.

5. The everting device of claim 4 wherein:

the hooks have blunt end surfaces to prevent piercing of the material.

6. The everting device of claim 4 wherein:

the symmetrically disposed hooks at the outwardly disposed position are open on the side of the hooks adjacent the one end of the tubular member for engaging the sleeve of material slid off of the member.

7. The everting device of claim 1 wherein:

the catches are sized to fit in overlapping relationship within the one end of the tubular member, whereby the catches can be drawn within the one end of the tubular member at the inwardly disposed position.

8. The everting device of claim 7 wherein:

the reciprocating means positions the catches in close fitting overlapping relationship at the inwardly disposed position of the catches within the one end of the tubular member whereby the sleeve of fabric material will be pinched between the catches at the inwardly disposed position.

9. The everting device of claim 7 wherein:

the tubular member has a cylindrical inner surface at the one end; and

the catches are hooks having curved portions which are smaller in size than the diameter of the inner surface to fit within the one end of the tubular member.

10. An inverting device for a sleeve of fabric material comprising:

a tube having a wall defining a hollow central passage and an aperture of selected size at one end of the tube;

at least one arm extending in a generally axial direction at the one end of the tube and having ends disposed inwardly and outwardly with respect to the one end of the tube passage, the outward end of the arm being resiliently biased laterally toward one side of the tube axis;

means mounted within the tube and connected to the inward end of the one arm for reciprocating the arm in and out of the tube aperture; and

a first hook having an open, curved portion smaller in size than the aperture of the tube, the hook being connected to the outward end of the one arm with the curved portion opening toward the one side ofthe tube axis.

1 l. The everting device ofclaim 10 including:

another arm positioned symmetrically about the tube axis with respect to the one arm and having an outward end biased laterally toward the side of the tube opposite the one side; and

a second hook having an open, curved portion similar in size and shape to the first hook and connected to the outward end of the other arm symmetrically about the tube axis with respect to the first hook. 

1. A device for everting a sleeve of flexible material comprising: a hollow, elongated tubular member over which the sleeve of flexible material can be slid; a pair of sleeve engaging catches extending axially at one end of the hollow tubular member; and a pair of axially extending resilient arms mounted within the tubular member, said arms being connected respectively to the axially extending catches for reciprocating the catches between an axially inwardly disposed position and an axially outwardly disposed position with respect to the one end of the tubular member and for crossing the catches over one another at the inwardly disposed position of the catches.
 2. The everting device of claim 1 wherein: the resilient arms of the reciprocating means are symmetrically shaped arms having angled camming portions which contact the interior of the tubular member at the inwardly disposed position of the catches.
 3. The everting device of claim 2 wherein: the reciprocating means includes an operating rod extending through the hollow tubular member, the rod being connected at one end to the resilient arms for reciprocating the arms between the inwardly and outwardly disposed positions.
 4. The everting device of claim 1 wherein: the catches are hooks symmetrically disposed about the axis of the tubular member and integrally connected to the respective axially extending arms.
 5. The everting device of claim 4 wherein: the hooks have blunt end surfAces to prevent piercing of the material.
 6. The everting device of claim 4 wherein: the symmetrically disposed hooks at the outwardly disposed position are open on the side of the hooks adjacent the one end of the tubular member for engaging the sleeve of material slid off of the member.
 7. The everting device of claim 1 wherein: the catches are sized to fit in overlapping relationship within the one end of the tubular member, whereby the catches can be drawn within the one end of the tubular member at the inwardly disposed position.
 8. The everting device of claim 7 wherein: the reciprocating means positions the catches in close fitting overlapping relationship at the inwardly disposed position of the catches within the one end of the tubular member whereby the sleeve of fabric material will be pinched between the catches at the inwardly disposed position.
 9. The everting device of claim 7 wherein: the tubular member has a cylindrical inner surface at the one end; and the catches are hooks having curved portions which are smaller in size than the diameter of the inner surface to fit within the one end of the tubular member.
 10. An inverting device for a sleeve of fabric material comprising: a tube having a wall defining a hollow central passage and an aperture of selected size at one end of the tube; at least one arm extending in a generally axial direction at the one end of the tube and having ends disposed inwardly and outwardly with respect to the one end of the tube passage, the outward end of the arm being resiliently biased laterally toward one side of the tube axis; means mounted within the tube and connected to the inward end of the one arm for reciprocating the arm in and out of the tube aperture; and a first hook having an open, curved portion smaller in size than the aperture of the tube, the hook being connected to the outward end of the one arm with the curved portion opening toward the one side of the tube axis.
 11. The everting device of claim 10 including: another arm positioned symmetrically about the tube axis with respect to the one arm and having an outward end biased laterally toward the side of the tube opposite the one side; and a second hook having an open, curved portion similar in size and shape to the first hook and connected to the outward end of the other arm symmetrically about the tube axis with respect to the first hook. 